"You heard Phoenix, lads. Go to your positions!", Colonel Valestein exclaimed.
""Ja!"", The Northern Jaegers replied in unison. Colonel Valestein was their leader. They couldn't turn down an order from him. Even the likes of Rogan had to tuck a tail between his legs and suck it up. He just scoffed in silence and took out his hammer.
As the Northern Jaegers began to fan out across the rocky battlefield, Colonel Valestein, Sara, Talion, Iseria, Fie, and surprisingly Rogan, remained behind, and watched me, waiting for me to move. Of course, Emma and Claire were beside me now.
"To me.", I declared. Ignoring everyone's gazes, I threw out a punch into the air. They didn't expect anything to happen. However, something did happen, contrary to their expectations. In the one spot where I moved my arm to, the space around it began to distort. It was the same as McBurn bringing out his Divergent Weapon Angbar. A crack of darkness began to spread, causing everyone's eyes to turn serious. Before anyone could react, a pitch-black obsidian bow came out from seemingly nowhere. It oozed a bloodthirsty-like aura, which caused the hairs on their backs to stand straight up.
I welcomed Verbrannteis into my grasp. I also activated its third Skill for the first time, Transform. All of a sudden, the bow sucked in a bunch of my EP.
From there, I took a stance. From what appeared to be a normal-sized bow began to increase in size right before their very eyes. It grew three times in size, becoming even longer than a Longbow!
My eyes now shifted toward the forest beyond the rocky battlefield.
Where the Red Constellation currently laid in waiting.
And the Red Ogre. Even Shirly was already mobilizing her squads to attack us.
All of a sudden, a crystallized arrow began to form within the bow itself. It coalesced from my Mana. It began to rapidly drain, just like how I used Transform. I wasn't going to use FrostFire Burst. No, that rains down arrows on groups of enemies and is better for an aoe attack, creating chaos wherever that attack lands. I've yet to see it happen, but I can only take a guess that it inflicts both fire and ice on my surroundings. A weird combination for sure.
Instead, I planned to shoot a SoulFire Shot straight through the battlefield.
Emma acted swiftly seeing me prepare to launch my attack. She began to use her own Mana while I took my stance. She placed one of her hands on my back, which further empowered the SoulFire Shot. In response, I saw a Gamer Notification come through, which surprised me.
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's SoulFire Shot (S) has been temporarily upgraded to True SoulFire Shot (SSS).]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's Attack Damage has been boosted by 100%!]
Seeing this, I grinned.
"Are you ready, Emma?", I asked, keeping my voice low. Seeing a powerful mixture of blue and red aura swirling around the hardened arrow that was pitch-black, just like the bow, Emma smiled back.
"Yes.", Emma simply replied. I could feel her Mana coursing through my body, and I'm not trying to sound cringey here, haha! It felt invigorating, like I could take on all the Jaegers before us.
All the while, seeing the two of us remain serious and focused, Colonel Valestein signed the Northern Jaegers to enter the fray. They quickly found their match with Nidhoggr and the Red Constellation. Gunfire started to erupt all around us. As for Claire, she just watched on, taking in every bit of experience she could grasp. I'm sure this was a new sight for her. The sight of the battlefield.
One moment passed after another, and I let go of my fingers. Wooooosh!
Back inside the forest...
Shirley could be seen in the middle of signaling her squads to head out to start the second wave of attack. As the Red Constellation Jaegers fanned out and joined up with a few Nidhoggr squads who remained behind as backup, it didn't take long for the Red Ogre to feel a subtle change in the air around them.
"This feeling...", The Red Ogre uttered, and took a moment to grab a hold of his gigantic war axe. Surprisingly, a serious look appeared in his eyes. It wasn't something Shirley saw often.
"Daddy?", Shirley called out, still nearby. She had yet to start fighting alongside the other Red Constellation Jaegers.
"Hahaha! How intriguing.", The Red Ogre said, letting out a wild laughter. He then looked at Shirley. "Change of plans, Shirley. Don't go join with the other squads. That brat you wanted to fight is unleashing a powerful move right at the start of this second wave. A move you can't take. I'll take it head on. Go take cover behind one of the trees behind me."
Even Shirley's eyes raised upward in surprise.
"Seriously? That Phoenix guy is launching an attack?", Shirley responded, and took out her portable orbal telescope again. Moving swiftly, she spotted a violet-haired boy several hundred arge away. She saw a very large and domineering bow that was ready to strike the entire battlefield and unleash chaos. "Holy, you're right about that. That's several hundred arge away!"
"I haven't felt this in a hot minute. They're taking the battle to us, and if it's a battle they want, it'll be a goddamn battle they get, gahaha!", The Red Ogre said, letting out a loud guffaw. He swung his gigantic war axe around with ease. Shirley became surprised once again after seeing the Red Ogre unleash a fiery-red aura. His Battle Qi.
The Red Ogre then pointed his axe toward the rocky terrain. "Come, brat! I'll take it on whatever you throw at me!", The Red Ogre exclaimed, letting his Battle Qi run loose and wild. It soared beyond the trees around him. There was a reason he was so powerful that even the entirety of the SSS struggled to fight him. This was why!
Shirley felt her blood start to pump in her veins. She wasn't scared. She felt excited! She suddenly revved up her chainsaw blade, and took the Red Ogre's advice, only to watch from a distance. She let out a crazed laughter, waiting to see what kind of attack would be sent their way.
Back toward the side of the Northern Jaegers, Rogan could be seen swinging his hammer around. He smashed the armor of a red-clad Jaeger, spilling blood onto the ground. Wiping the blood off his armor, he glanced back and saw Naoto launching his attack.
"Seriously? The brat's answer is a fucking arrow?", Rogan cursed. The Mana condensing continued. The arrow was quite large now. Befitting of SSS in power!
"Shut it, Rogan. Even the hairs on my back are giving me goosebumps. Phoenix is launching a powerful attack. You saw how he brought out that bow, right? That isn't natural.", Talion shot back at him.
"You must be kidding me. There's no way a weapon like that can cause a major blow to the enemy line!", Rogan exclaimed again, obviously disappointed.
"Uh-huh, why don't you go and try and block Phoenix's attack?", Talion retorted. "But if you try to do that, you won't stick around. Interested in a bet?"
The moment Talion said that, Iseria's eyes sparkled.
"Oooh! A bet huh? I second that! How much Mira we're talking here?", Iseria immediately replied before Rogan even got a chance to speak. Marty shook his head seeing Iseria react like that.
"Are you guys really tryin' to place a bet here in the middle of a battlefield?", Marty said, shaking his head in disappointment.
"Why not? I'll put ten thousand Mira on Phoenix.", Fie immediately replied. Her demeanor changed right then and there, it was as if she had swept her earlier disgust at Rogan under the rug.
"Hehe, even Sylphid wants in, eh?", Iseria asked, looking at the silver-haired girl beside her. She nonchalantly proceeded to pierce another red-clad Jaeger's armor right through, killing him on the spot. Despite proceeding to kill more Jaegers, these guys had enough in them to crack jokes.
"Honestly speaking, this attack Phoenix is preparing looks deadly. I don't know what Emma is doing to make it so powerful, but I'm getting the heebie-jeebies just looking at it. That aura is quite something. I don't think it's Battle Qi either. It's...more calm, if I had to guess?", Sara asked, wondering what it was that Naoto and Emma were releasing. This was her first exposure to Magic, so it made sense she didn't know.
The arrow looked strange. The outer rim of the shaft was pitch-black obsidian, but on the inside, there was a layer of icy-blue, and further inside it, it was fiery-red.
Talion nodded his head at Sara's words. He too was curious. Then, he shifted his eyes back at Rogan, and spoke.
"How about fifteen thousand Mira and a week's worth of Northern Borsch?", Talion requested.
"Oi, you're seriously going with it, Captain?", Marty retorted, but Talion ignored him.
"Heh. No hesitation. You're on, Tal. Twenty-five thousand Mira between you and Sylphid? I'll double down and make it fifty thousand Mira and make it so you guys can never eat another bowl of Northern Borsch again.", Rogan said, suddenly putting forth a bet of his own.
Fie even whistled at that comment.
"You're so on.", Iseria immediately responded, happily clapping her hands together.
"You do know this is MY Mira we're betting with, right?", Talion asked, looking annoyed at Iseria.
"Hey I ain't complainin' since it's involving our North Ambrian specialty. You better beat Rogan's ass, Phoenix!", Marty shouted. Hearing that, my eyes squinted, but I continued to focus on the SoulFire Shot that was still being prepared. It sounds like these guys went ahead and placed a bet on me eh?
I'll be sure to live up to their expectations, haha!
"Haha, I'll see what I can do.", I simply responded.
I kept my focus on Verbrannteis as II said that, along with what was currently happening back inside the forest. As much as I enjoyed their bickering, I needed to stay focused. As for Emma, she solely focused on channeling her Mana. My attack was soon ready...
Meanwhile, Claire just watched on with an observant look in her eyes while inwardly shaking her head at the Northern Jaegers' remarks.